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FAST
SINGAPORE: With sweat glistening on his forehead, Syed Abdul Rahaman Mohammad Ahdam stirs a steaming pot of mutton broth, filling the air with a peppery aroma.
The 64-year-old has been on his feet since 6.30am. For 10 to 11 hours a day, he hardly has a break save for one coffee. Lunch is around dinnertime, when he is finally home, and it is his dinner too.
He is Bahrakath Mutton Soup’s only cook and takes two days off per month. “Tired or (not), this (is what I) have to do every day,” says the hawker at Adam Food Centre. “This is my job.”
His eldest son, Syed Ajmalkhan, 38, wants him to rest more. But that is easier said than done.
Syed Abdul Rahaman cooking up a storm at his hawker stall.
It happened once that the soup was running low, so his second son, Mohamed Usain, decided to make more — “out of curiosity” and because there was still a crowd at the food centre.
Complaints came flying in the next day. Regulars could tell the difference. “If you’re just going to do (it) for the sake of doing (it), the taste won’t be the same,” the 36-year-old recalls his father telling him.
He never did it again. “If (the food) runs out early, we’ll call it a day,” says Mohamed Usain, who helps out mostly at weekends.
There are not only loyal customers the family must think of now, but also the Michelin Bib Gourmand.
The award recognises the world’s best budget-friendly establishments, and Bahrakath Mutton Soup made the Singapore list in July for the third consecutive year.
A bowl of Bahrakath Mutton Soup.
“Some of our customers say … (it’s the) number one kambing (mutton) soup in Singapore,” says Syed Abdul Rahaman. “I have to keep (it) up (in) the coming years.”
The consistency of every bowl of soup is in his hands alone. “The spices all must (be) correct,” he stresses. “If not, the flavour (will) change.”
But he knows he cannot be sweating over the stove when age eventually catches up. “In future, (if) my sons take over, I don’t know (if) they can (maintain) the same taste,” he says.
The family-run business has been a fixture in Singapore’s hawker landscape for more than 50 years. So, what might become of that legacy?
It is one of the questions the On The Red Dot series, I Am A Hawker, explores with Bahrakath Mutton Soup and three other Michelin-honoured stalls. What does it take to earn such recognition, and can they keep it going?
WATCH: Singapore’s Michelin Bib Gourmand hawkers — Bahrakath Mutton Soup (22:45)
Bahrakath Mutton Soup began business from a pushcart at Tekka Market in the 1970s. It was run by Syed Abdul Rahaman’s father, who later secured a stall at Adam Food Centre, which opened in 1974.
“My father wouldn’t let (me) inside the kambing soup stall because I didn’t know (how to do) the cooking,” he recalls.
It was not until 2005 — five years before his father’s eventual death — that he and his wife, Alima Beevi, took over the stall. He handled customer orders, and she was the cook.
“I learnt from his father,” she says. “There were a few small changes, but it was still his father’s recipe.”
Then in 2020, he started to do the cooking so his wife could step away after two decades to care for their daughter’s child.
Syed Abdul Rahaman and Alima Beevi recalling the days when they worked together at the stall.
Bit by bit, he learnt by watching her just as she once learnt from his father. Within two years, he was cooking on his own. Then came a surprise in 2023.
“One of the customers told me, ‘Congratulations, you got a Michelin award,’” he recounts. “I didn’t know what that was.”
When he received the letter confirming their Bib Gourmand, he was “so happy” and so was his wife, he says with a chuckle.
“Because (of) my husband’s cooking, we get a Michelin (Bib Gourmand),” he remembers her telling him. “(When) I cooked, I never got (it).”
He adds: “After that, many people knew about my stall.”
Syed Abdul Rahaman at the 2023 Michelin Guide ceremony in Singapore. (Photo courtesy of Syed Abdul Rahaman Mohammad Ahdam)
There have also been invitations to serve his mutton soup at various events, in places from the Istana to Tanglin Community Club. Yet, with three Bib selections under his belt now, fame has not changed his routine.
“I can’t control (whether or not) Michelin gives me the award,” he says. “But my customers accept this taste, so I’m maintaining the taste.”
Every morning, Syed Abdul Rahaman prepares both mutton soup and biryani. And it takes hours. Bone, ribs, tongue and tripe, along with chunks of meat, go into a 20kg custom-made copper pot from India.
This pot makes the soup “taste better”, whereas most other hawkers use aluminium or silver pots, he says.
He cooks the meat for two to three hours — no using a pressure cooker to save time — before letting the soup simmer. “Slowly cook with the soup, (then) you’ll get the flavour,” he says.
Syed Abdul Rahaman hauling his copper pot up onto the stove.
There is also his blend of “secret spices”, the recipe for which is not written anywhere.
“If my son asks, how many grammes (of an ingredient) did you put (in), … I can’t tell you the answer,” he says. “My measurement is my hand.”
But there is a process of adding the spices, he shares. “I put (in) less first, then I’ll taste (the soup). If the taste isn’t (right), then I’d add … a bit (more).”
The cooking should be done at around 10am. And he makes two batches that should last the stall until midnight.
Some of its customers have been coming back for more mutton soup for decades. Rosli Daud, who has dined at the stall for 40 years, says the taste has been maintained throughout. “I can vouch for it,” he declares.
Johor Kaki food blogger Tony Boey first visited the stall in the 1980s too. He remembers its mutton soup for “the exotic cuts and the very robust spice flavour, which goes very, very well with the bread”.
“Lip-smacking” is how food reviewer Tony Boey describes the mutton soup now.
“Everything is very rounded and balanced without anything … sharply standing out,” he says while trying the dish once again.
“In the list of Singapore hawker dishes, mutton soup isn’t so mainstream. So I’m very, very glad that it has a place in (the Michelin) list — so that more people … appreciate it, and we get to enjoy it longer.”
One other thing that Syed Abdul Rahaman will say about mutton soup is that it also takes “quite long” to learn to cook it.
His eldest son, who has been working alongside him for more than four years, is now “more familiar with all the operations” and is “ready to take the next step”, Syed Ajmalkhan himself says. But his father still cooks everything.
Syed Ajmalkhan (left) and Mohamed Usain handling customer orders at the stall.
“I want to cook,” adds Syed Ajmalkhan, “but it’s not that easy.”
The first time he watched his father cook the family’s famous mutton soup from A to Z was when On The Red Dot’s cameras were rolling.
“It’s 5am. Usually, at this time I’ll be sleeping,” he says huskily that morning, awake just hours after ending work at midnight. “I’m still very tired.”
While his father is willing to teach him slowly, every morning at the stall remains a busy affair.
“It’s not like (we can prepare) one item at a time,” Syed Ajmalkhan observes. “We have to concentrate on the soup, (on) the curry for the biryani, after (which) we have to prepare the biryani.
“I’m trying to absorb all the information if possible. It’s a bit hard, but I’m trying.”
Syed Ajmalkhan observing his father’s cooking after arriving bright and early.
Taking over the business was not what he had in mind when he was still studying. He wanted to pursue a career in nautical studies. “But to be honest, it didn’t work out as planned,” he shares.
After joining his father, he realised that he preferred the work there rather than “working for a boss”. “We have a lot of regulars, and after getting (the Bib Gourmand), we have more new customers,” he says.
His father is not planning to retire anytime soon, however. “I can work (for) about 10 more years,” Syed Abdul Rahaman says breezily.
“Maybe (in) one or two years, I’ll ask him to cook (by) himself. I’ll come every day to (check) the taste. … If (it’s) not the same, I can correct (it).”
Syed Abdul Rahaman wiping down the stall’s shopfront.
For him and his sons, it is not only about maintaining standards but also a family tradition.
“I’m so happy (my eldest) is continuing (the work of) a hawker,” he says. “If (he’s) good (at it), I can pass (down) the stall. … I’m happy that they continue my father’s recipe.”
Watch this episode of the I Am A Hawker series here. The programme, On The Red Dot, airs on Channel 5 every Friday at 9.30pm.
Source: CNA/dp
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FAST
SINGAPORE: With sweat glistening on his forehead, Syed Abdul Rahaman Mohammad Ahdam stirs a steaming pot of mutton broth, filling the air with a peppery aroma.
The 64-year-old has been on his feet since 6.30am. For 10 to 11 hours a day, he hardly has a break save for one coffee. Lunch is around dinnertime, when he is finally home, and it is his dinner too.
He is Bahrakath Mutton Soup’s only cook and takes two days off per month. “Tired or (not), this (is what I) have to do every day,” says the hawker at Adam Food Centre. “This is my job.”
His eldest son, Syed Ajmalkhan, 38, wants him to rest more. But that is easier said than done.
Syed Abdul Rahaman cooking up a storm at his hawker stall.
It happened once that the soup was running low, so his second son, Mohamed Usain, decided to make more — “out of curiosity” and because there was still a crowd at the food centre.
Complaints came flying in the next day. Regulars could tell the difference. “If you’re just going to do (it) for the sake of doing (it), the taste won’t be the same,” the 36-year-old recalls his father telling him.
He never did it again. “If (the food) runs out early, we’ll call it a day,” says Mohamed Usain, who helps out mostly at weekends.
There are not only loyal customers the family must think of now, but also the Michelin Bib Gourmand.
The award recognises the world’s best budget-friendly establishments, and Bahrakath Mutton Soup made the Singapore list in July for the third consecutive year.
A bowl of Bahrakath Mutton Soup.
“Some of our customers say … (it’s the) number one kambing (mutton) soup in Singapore,” says Syed Abdul Rahaman. “I have to keep (it) up (in) the coming years.”
The consistency of every bowl of soup is in his hands alone. “The spices all must (be) correct,” he stresses. “If not, the flavour (will) change.”
But he knows he cannot be sweating over the stove when age eventually catches up. “In future, (if) my sons take over, I don’t know (if) they can (maintain) the same taste,” he says.
The family-run business has been a fixture in Singapore’s hawker landscape for more than 50 years. So, what might become of that legacy?
It is one of the questions the On The Red Dot series, I Am A Hawker, explores with Bahrakath Mutton Soup and three other Michelin-honoured stalls. What does it take to earn such recognition, and can they keep it going?
WATCH: Singapore’s Michelin Bib Gourmand hawkers — Bahrakath Mutton Soup (22:45)
FROM PUSHCART TO THE ISTANA
Bahrakath Mutton Soup began business from a pushcart at Tekka Market in the 1970s. It was run by Syed Abdul Rahaman’s father, who later secured a stall at Adam Food Centre, which opened in 1974.
“My father wouldn’t let (me) inside the kambing soup stall because I didn’t know (how to do) the cooking,” he recalls.
It was not until 2005 — five years before his father’s eventual death — that he and his wife, Alima Beevi, took over the stall. He handled customer orders, and she was the cook.
“I learnt from his father,” she says. “There were a few small changes, but it was still his father’s recipe.”
Then in 2020, he started to do the cooking so his wife could step away after two decades to care for their daughter’s child.
Syed Abdul Rahaman and Alima Beevi recalling the days when they worked together at the stall.
Bit by bit, he learnt by watching her just as she once learnt from his father. Within two years, he was cooking on his own. Then came a surprise in 2023.
“One of the customers told me, ‘Congratulations, you got a Michelin award,’” he recounts. “I didn’t know what that was.”
When he received the letter confirming their Bib Gourmand, he was “so happy” and so was his wife, he says with a chuckle.
“Because (of) my husband’s cooking, we get a Michelin (Bib Gourmand),” he remembers her telling him. “(When) I cooked, I never got (it).”
He adds: “After that, many people knew about my stall.”
Syed Abdul Rahaman at the 2023 Michelin Guide ceremony in Singapore. (Photo courtesy of Syed Abdul Rahaman Mohammad Ahdam)
There have also been invitations to serve his mutton soup at various events, in places from the Istana to Tanglin Community Club. Yet, with three Bib selections under his belt now, fame has not changed his routine.
“I can’t control (whether or not) Michelin gives me the award,” he says. “But my customers accept this taste, so I’m maintaining the taste.”
A RECIPE MEASURED IN HIS HAND
Every morning, Syed Abdul Rahaman prepares both mutton soup and biryani. And it takes hours. Bone, ribs, tongue and tripe, along with chunks of meat, go into a 20kg custom-made copper pot from India.
This pot makes the soup “taste better”, whereas most other hawkers use aluminium or silver pots, he says.
He cooks the meat for two to three hours — no using a pressure cooker to save time — before letting the soup simmer. “Slowly cook with the soup, (then) you’ll get the flavour,” he says.
Syed Abdul Rahaman hauling his copper pot up onto the stove.
There is also his blend of “secret spices”, the recipe for which is not written anywhere.
“If my son asks, how many grammes (of an ingredient) did you put (in), … I can’t tell you the answer,” he says. “My measurement is my hand.”
But there is a process of adding the spices, he shares. “I put (in) less first, then I’ll taste (the soup). If the taste isn’t (right), then I’d add … a bit (more).”
The cooking should be done at around 10am. And he makes two batches that should last the stall until midnight.
Some of its customers have been coming back for more mutton soup for decades. Rosli Daud, who has dined at the stall for 40 years, says the taste has been maintained throughout. “I can vouch for it,” he declares.
Johor Kaki food blogger Tony Boey first visited the stall in the 1980s too. He remembers its mutton soup for “the exotic cuts and the very robust spice flavour, which goes very, very well with the bread”.
“Lip-smacking” is how food reviewer Tony Boey describes the mutton soup now.
“Everything is very rounded and balanced without anything … sharply standing out,” he says while trying the dish once again.
“In the list of Singapore hawker dishes, mutton soup isn’t so mainstream. So I’m very, very glad that it has a place in (the Michelin) list — so that more people … appreciate it, and we get to enjoy it longer.”
“I WANT TO CARRY ON THIS LEGACY”
One other thing that Syed Abdul Rahaman will say about mutton soup is that it also takes “quite long” to learn to cook it.
His eldest son, who has been working alongside him for more than four years, is now “more familiar with all the operations” and is “ready to take the next step”, Syed Ajmalkhan himself says. But his father still cooks everything.
Syed Ajmalkhan (left) and Mohamed Usain handling customer orders at the stall.
“I want to cook,” adds Syed Ajmalkhan, “but it’s not that easy.”
The first time he watched his father cook the family’s famous mutton soup from A to Z was when On The Red Dot’s cameras were rolling.
“It’s 5am. Usually, at this time I’ll be sleeping,” he says huskily that morning, awake just hours after ending work at midnight. “I’m still very tired.”
While his father is willing to teach him slowly, every morning at the stall remains a busy affair.
“It’s not like (we can prepare) one item at a time,” Syed Ajmalkhan observes. “We have to concentrate on the soup, (on) the curry for the biryani, after (which) we have to prepare the biryani.
“I’m trying to absorb all the information if possible. It’s a bit hard, but I’m trying.”
Syed Ajmalkhan observing his father’s cooking after arriving bright and early.
Taking over the business was not what he had in mind when he was still studying. He wanted to pursue a career in nautical studies. “But to be honest, it didn’t work out as planned,” he shares.
After joining his father, he realised that he preferred the work there rather than “working for a boss”. “We have a lot of regulars, and after getting (the Bib Gourmand), we have more new customers,” he says.
His father is not planning to retire anytime soon, however. “I can work (for) about 10 more years,” Syed Abdul Rahaman says breezily.
“Maybe (in) one or two years, I’ll ask him to cook (by) himself. I’ll come every day to (check) the taste. … If (it’s) not the same, I can correct (it).”
Syed Abdul Rahaman wiping down the stall’s shopfront.
For him and his sons, it is not only about maintaining standards but also a family tradition.
“I’m so happy (my eldest) is continuing (the work of) a hawker,” he says. “If (he’s) good (at it), I can pass (down) the stall. … I’m happy that they continue my father’s recipe.”
Watch this episode of the I Am A Hawker series here. The programme, On The Red Dot, airs on Channel 5 every Friday at 9.30pm.
You may also be interested in:
Source: CNA/dp
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